Over half DWP disability assessors leave in a year over feeling ‘despised’
Healthcare professionals tasked with assessing people for disability benefits are leaving the profession in droves due to feelings of ‘humiliation’ and ‘deskilling’, research by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has found.
In a newly released report, the ministry says more than half (52 percent) of health assessors leave in a single year, while 40 percent of new hires leave within three months of training.
The research, which examined assessors for both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the health-related element of Universal Credit, was conducted in Spring 2022, with findings drawn from 2021 figures.
Both assessments have long been criticized by disability rights advocates as difficult and inconsistent processes. More than half (51 per cent) of disabled people with complex needs report feeling humiliated by their PIP assessment, according to the survey by disability charity Sense. 45 percent said that the process made their symptoms worse.
Assessors must be qualified healthcare professionals. One of them told researchers: “We all entered healthcare for altruistic reasons, and that may not be the case in this business… you are a cog in the machine doing bureaucratic work.”
Many people don’t apply for the role until “they have no choice but to leave the NHS”, but then they feel they have moved from a role where they are “respected” to one where they are “despised”, the report says.
In a PIP assessment, an assessor will score an applicant based on how limited their ability to perform activities of daily living is, and this will determine the level of the final award.
The assessment for the health element of Universal Credit is called a ‘work ability assessment’; here the evaluator instead determines the applicant’s ability to perform the job or job-related activity (such as interviews and training).
A DWP contracts manager explains the challenges many assessors face as former healthcare workers: “The idea of being on a treadmill of gathering details but not wanting to intervene is foreign to a significant part of the healthcare sector.
“A lot of people who apply for roles don’t understand the point. They come in. They go through rigorous training and [the] The penny drops saying this is the role.
A former PIP assessor said: Independent last year he said he was “working” [herself] He often remained there from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. as the growing backlog of cases became unmanageable.
The former nurse, who worked as an assessor for two years, said: “They draw you into it because when you first go they tell you ‘give it six months because this is a completely new way of working as a nurse’.”
“Most evaluators leave around six months because they realize they have been deceived,” he added.
Lucy Bannister, head of policy and influence at Turn2us, said: “People recovering from illness or coping with the additional cost of disability should rightly expect to be treated with dignity and respect, but this report shows that this is not happening.
“Staff who carry out disability benefits reviews describe the system in the same terms as disabled people: punitive, exhausting and inflexible, focused on marking rather than care. It doesn’t work properly for anyone.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “We commissioned this research to better understand the challenges facing the health assessment workforce and have been acting on its findings since it was carried out.
“We have worked closely with our assessment providers to improve recruitment, training and working conditions, and the full-time equivalent health inspector workforce has increased since this research was conducted.
“We are committed to ensuring assessments are carried out by qualified professionals who are appropriately supported in their roles, and we continue to work on improvements as part of our wider transformation of our health assessment services.”
After returning to proposed changes to PIP last year, the government announced a review by disabled Sir Stephen Timms to make the benefit “fair and fit for the future”. It is understood the study will have a strong focus on the evaluation process, with a report expected to be published in the autumn of this year.
The government also plans to abolish work capacity assessment and create a single process based on the PIP framework. However, Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden recently confirmed this will not happen until the Timms review is concluded.
